By Samantha Fournier
The work of CCSU’s senior art students surrounded the chatty crowd in the Chen Gallery on Friday at the 2010 Capstone art exhibit. Seniors featured in the exhibit, their families, friends, and other CCSU students came to admire the work of the proud seniors.
As the seniors guided their guests from piece to piece, the sounds of folk music filled the room as a guest performer sang and strummed the guitar in front of Matt Graham’s bright, abstract cartoon-like paintings.
Lauren Pelletier’s black quilted piece with thin grey strips hung draped from the wall in the far corner. “[It was] inspired by a piece of paper,” said Pelletier, who frequently works with fabric as a medium. She used the quilting method to manipulate the sheets.
“This one right here screws with my head a little bit,” said visitor Matt Backe of Pelletier’s piece hung next to the quilted work. The thin black and white striped fabric pulled taught over a frame was an optical illusion for the eyes. Small areas of the fabric looked pinched together altering the striped pattern.
Not all pieces at the show were abstract others, like Sarah Eaton’s rocker-inspired watercolor pictures of artists from her favorite bands portrayed a clearer vision of reality.
“[I’m] happy with the variety and the subject matter,” said Art Department Assistant and CCSU student Lori Camilleri.
Pieces at the art show took visitors from Michele Magliaccio’s dark night time waterfront bridge views in the city to Ashley Lodovico’s “Sunny Afternoon” bright colored waterfront watercolor picture depicting clear skies and pale white sand.
Works varied in subject matter from Courtney Mangum’s “Still I Rise” series of grid drawn portraits depicting proud successful and prominent figures such as President Obama and Michael Jackson to Tokuki Okamoto’s picture dominated by a muted maroon color and grey tones, which created a political statement picturing President Obama and George Bush holding bombs while standing over a map of Gaza.
Visitors at the 2010 capstone event admired a variety of mixed media works as they walked around the room chatting with CCSU’s proud artists as they prepare to move on to the next phase of their lives.
The 2010 Capstone art exhibit will be open for viewing from May seventh through the fourteenth. Gallery hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 1 to 4 p.m., Thursday from 2 to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m.
